Wandering with Mike

Virginia Beach, VA

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:51:33 -0700

Went to Virginia Beach and stayed with my Aunt Amy for a while. This was like a vacation in the middle of the vacation; partied with my aunt Amy & cousin Madison constantly, chilled at the beach and the pool, walked the boardwalk (now a cementwalk) and saw all the touristy shops, and so on. The walking tour revealed that the city of Virginia Beach is nothing but residential areas and businesses aimed at seasonal and long-term visitors. While I was there I got

Cashes

I stumbled upon a thread on an image board I frequent where a well-to-do English gentleman was offering to give 100 pounds (about $160 US) to the person with the best story/reason, because he remembered what it was like to be broke. After a mountain of fake "my whole family has cancer and AIDS and we need money" stories I threw my story up there for the hell of it. I won! Hooray for gas money over the webbernet.

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Washington, DC

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:47:35 -0800

The last time I was in DC, I was something like 12 years old, so this was practically a first visit. Most of the monuments and important buildings in DC are pretty recognizable by anyone who's lived here for a while, but I was surprised by the scale of everything. These structures are HUGE. I first went on a night tour of DC with my Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary, who I was staying with while I was in the area; Mike was able to tell me what EVERY SINGLE BUILDING was and I pretty much forgot most of it, sadly. Sorry Mike!

The next day I did the walking tour thing, starting at the Jefferson Memorial then strolling over to the mall area. Hit the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the Capitol Building, and the Library of Congress, (mass linking because all of those articles had some really interesting tidbits) as well as the numerous buildings between. Outside of the Smithsonian I got to listen to a steelpan musician as I ate lunch; other than that there really weren't any noteworthy happenings while I was in the city.

I was staying in the nearby town of Alexandria, Virginia, which is one of the nicer (WAY nicer) areas around DC. Got to go on a mini-tour of "Old Town", which is pretty much what it sounds like, a historic district in the middle of Alexandria. Ate some delicious seafood pasta something with crab and lobster and all kinds of wonderful at a restaurant named The Wharf, courtesy of my gracious aunt. I also got to eat at the original Five Guys during my stay here, a delicious grease pit of burger and fries.

This was mostly a sight-seeing section of trip, so the pictures will show more than I care to write about. A separate Alexandria set is here and the DC set is behind the big picture as usual.

Miles traveled so far: ~4368
States hit so far: 15
Next stop: Virginia Beach

DC Alternate Ending

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Pictures

Terror

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:43:58 -0700

I was visiting someone at 4 am and had forgotten my cell phone. I decided to sneak around behind their house to tap on their window. Then I heard it... a rustling in the grass nearby, perhaps ten feet away. I didn't have any sort of light source, but remembered that I had my camera on me, so I turned it on, turned on the flash, pointed and clicked. There was a flash in the night, revealing to me for an instant an image of pure horror. Refusing to believe what I had seen, I double-checked the glowing LCD screen of my camera and saw this.

I wouldn't have run as fast if I had seen a cougar. I would have to find another way to make contact.

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New England, Part II

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:41:32 -0700

Maine

Maine is boring.

Blunt observation aside, I did have a few good times here. I laughed when I crossed the state line, which also happened to be a line of pine trees. I'm pretty sure Maine designed this as some sort of pine-needley defense against invaders from the south, potentially from Philadelphia. I saw a yard sale sign about half an hour after I got into the state and decided to stop; glad I did! I got a second propane cooker, a blowtorch, a canvas bag, some picnic supplies, and a can of propane, all for a dollar. SCORE

I also stopped at Ferry Beach State Park in Saco, ME, and finally got to see and touch the Atlantic. I got all ready to take a swim but the water was FREEZING. I ended up just walking around in it, and even that turned my legs into ice columns. Damn you, frigid Atlantic. I also confirmed that the water tasted salty (and took some beach photos).

On the way out of the park I asked an attendant lady (or I guess I should say attendant person because being politically correct means spreading ignorance) where I should eat, and she gave me an enthusiastic recommendation for a local seafood place named Huot's. This lady (person) was wonderful; the way she talked and acted reminded me of the main cop chick from Fargo. Anyway, at Huot's I got this delicious breaded haddock samwich thing that fed me twice. Go eat there.

Slept in Maine, woke up, felt like hitting up another city and started towards Portland. Unfortunately the traffic was forming a defensive barrier around Portland, and after about an hour of going nowhere I said "fuck Portland" and headed south, first hitting

New Hampshire

which is also a very pretty state, and get this, no sales tax! Supposedly the residents get raped on other stuff but man, living next to the border would be awesome. The campground I stayed at in Vermont, I asked them where I could go get supplies and they told me to go across the border to the NH Wal-Mart. I stocked up on just about everything I could think of. On the way through there were tons of signs on the highway for a liquor store, which I don't quite understand, but now the rum isn't gone and also wasn't taxed. Stopped at another park to eat and got to see a bunch of chubby little kids swarm an ice cream truck.

Massachusetts

Stopped in Boston on my way through Mass. Very cool, very old city. You can just feel the years weighing on the city everywhere you look. Walked around for a while, mostly in the South Market area. Nothing much to say that the pictures don't reveal, so be unlazy and go look.

Rhode Island

From written journal:
2009-06-07 // 10:22p EST // Providence, Rhode Island
So far RI has this sort of "stressed" feel to it. Well, let me be fair, Providence does. Stressed worker people, stressed pedestrians, stressed drunk college chicks over there. The lady on the sidewalk who was looking at me like I was a rapist was funny too. OUR STATE IS TOO SMALL GET OUT OF IT.

That's about it. Swung through Providence at night (whole city was dead, was kinda freaky), stopped at a little pub (the Trinity Brewhouse) and had some delicious dark beer that they brew on-site, then got the hell out of there because everyone I saw was looking at me like I was something unfortunate on the bottom of their boot. (Best I could come up with.)

Afterwards I headed back into Pennsylvania where I got hijacked to celebrate a bunch of birthdays with my family & friends, including my own, so that's where July went.

Miles traveled so far: ~3319
States hit so far: 11
Next stop: Washington, DC area

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Travel Cooking with Mike: Road Ramen

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:23:58 -0700

Ramen is cheap and easy even when traveling!

It go like dis:

1. Assemble your propane burner. You will need the burner itself and a mini propane tank. These are inexpensive and available at any Wal-Mart in the camping gear section.

2. Boil water and add noodles as normal.

3. I like to put the seasoning packet and all my additional spices* into a large cup rather than the pot. This keeps the pot relatively clean and easy to cleanse and re-pack.

4. Once the noodles are how you like them, pour the contents of your pot into your large cup. Stir with your plastic utensils, allow to cool and enjoy.

* spices may include the following: garlic powder, black pepper, a dash of cayenne, seasoned salt, onion powder. Spices may be prepared in a plant that processes peanuts or peanut products. Do not give nuts to children (choking hazard).

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New England, Part I

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:27:15 -0700

Connecticut

From typed journal:
2009-06-03 // 9:34p EST // Stamford, CT
Blessings in life:
-Unsecured library wireless networks
-Engine-heated pizza
-Power inverter in car
-Chocolate milk

Came up out of Pennsylvania and Jersey, through NYC, and entered Connecticut. Connecticut (I still say "connect - i - cut" in my head when I spell it) is... nice. Not terribly spectacular one way or another, just plain and nice and very middle-to-upper-class and white. Quaint nice boring cookie-cutter houses abound, with cute little fences and cute little statues out front. One interesting thing I did find (with the help of a friend) was the Bartlett Arboretum, a sort of giant plant preserve slash tourism garden. At the welcome center (which was basically a house with an office) I spoke to a cool old dude named Sid Harowitz who wished me luck on my trip, and while on my way out I heard one of the employees telling a story to a friend that went something like this:

"So [guy's name] found these brownies in the fridge the other day, and figured they were for everybody, so he ate one. Later we found a note in the fridge on top of the brownies from [other guy] that says, 'Dear whoever ate my brownie; as you now know, these are not normal brownies. It would be appreciated if you could leave me ten dollars as restitution. I hope you had a good time.'"

I laughed (quietly) and stopped eavesdropping, continuing out the door into the arborEEtum. I spent quite a few hours just wandering around there, but I won't waste space writing a huge boring paragraph about everything there when I took a whole bunch of pictures there.

I spent a night in Connecticut, during which I found a gloriously strong wireless signal from a nearby library. I enjoyed an engine-heated dinner (don't worry, this is a pretty safe and apparently pretty common practice) and got comfy in my car.

I stopped in a park to eat dinner on my way out of CT and happened upon a little league game in progress; and this is actually my favorite moment to bring up when talking to people about the trip. I get asked a lot, "did you see the Statue of Liberty," "did you see Cape Cod," etc., all the famous touristy stuff, but I really like the one-of-a-kind moments like this that couldn't have been planned, and I really enjoy and like to take in all the beautiful natural sights, like the terrain in

Vermont

Vermont, so far, wins my Most Beautiful State Award. Almost the entire time through I was looking around in awe. Even the towns are all woody and rustic, and everyone I spoke to was incredibly laid back and friendly. One of those times that makes you think of and hate the cities, universally full of unhappy, stressed-out people. I actually stayed at a campsite here, in the north, near the New Hampshire border. It was incredibly clean and nice, and while checking in I noticed a couple pulling in with a cat in the front of their truck. I went over to look at the cat and was informed that there were actually four cats in there; looking through the window I saw three of them. Just wonderful. No pictures, unfortunately. The night was pleasant in my tented wonderland, and I got to swim in the pool (and test my camera's waterproof functionality) and enjoy the free showers.

Next: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island

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New York City, Part II

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:06:10 -0700

From Twitter:
2009-05-30 // 1:12p EST
Staring at a spot where there should be two towers.

Got off the PATH train at the World Trade Center exit. This place messed me up; I have no direct or even really indirect connection with New York or the events of 2001-09-11, but the sight of the area, the big blank spot where there's now nothing, brought out some pretty strong emotions. I had to pause on the sidewalk for a bit and take it all in. There's a very powerful feeling in that entire area.

After this I decided to start walking. I was closer to the southern end of Manhattan so I headed south, towards Liberty Island and the ferry crossings. On the way I saw a couple iconic New York streets: Wall street and all its fun financial locations, and a section of Broadway. Apparently these places are in fact real! I got to the Staten Island ferry station and saw the Statue of Liberty herself from the window. I didn't really feel like paying ferry costs so I just enjoyed the view from the south end. After this, I happened across Battery Park, which I had heard about the day before. Here is where I happened to catch an actual acrobatics/breakdancing show thing! A group of people called the New York City Acrobats were putting on a show in the park; it was incredibly entertaining and the guys speaking (yelling) to everyone were hilarious [video]. On the way through and out of Battery Park there were all kinds of mini street performers, vendors, photo ops, etc. The city is alive and it wants to sell you things.

After this, MORE WALKING. I happened upon Chinatown next, which is apparently gigantic when on foot. I hit the area and couldn't walk my wandering ass out of it for about an hour. Chinese writing and people all over the place. While there I grabbed some "fresh" produce -- a delicious orange and some tasty grapes. I had sticky orange-scented fingers forever and got totally sick of the grapes (the only ones I found came in something like eight-pound bags). When I did get out of it I was in a sort of boring area on the eastern side, and I wanted to be a lot farther north than I was, so I flagged down a taxi because I've never done that before (I know, right?). My cabbie's name was Henry Shaheen (or Shaheen Henry, I don't know) and he tried his darnedest to be friendly despite not understanding the words coming out of my mouth. I told him to drop me near the Empire State Building. My brief ride cost me something like eleven bucks (ouch). I got out and there it was, tall as hell and looking just like in the movies. At this point I was getting hungry for real, so I asked a random trapped worker where I could get some genuine New York style pizza, and got directed to Empire Pizza nearby. APPARENTLY, genuine New York style pizza is larger than the average flat-panel television. I ordered two slices and wondered why it was so expensive until it got served to me and it dwarfed my hands and the two spread out paper plates it was on. I managed to eat both pieces and was good on food for a while, and I can eat my body weight in an average feasting. After I left this place I gave the rest of my grape kingdom to a hungry-looking fellow digging through garbage cans. I figured he would appreciate them more than I would.

I discovered I was close to the highly-televised Times Square, so I headed that way, rumbling the earth with my pizza-weighted footsteps. This place is animated. I took a couple still shots but switched to short videos after a while, because a still image doesn't really capture it. LED signs and flashing lights ALL OVER the place, most far larger than your average person or billboard. I talked to a possibly drunken guy who tried to get me to go to his car & smoke weed with him ("we'll find some somewhere"). He talked about how he makes a ton of money but would rather leave all that behind and do what I'm doing. I responded with what I usually say, "so do it", and he did what people usually do and pussied out of the thought. Anyway, I shortly ran away and continued north-like, seeing a bunch more big-ass buildings and Rockefeller Center and the like, until running into Central Park. When I envisioned Central Park before, I pictured a standard city park: flat, grassy, a few trees and benches, nothing special. Not so! Central Park is like a sculpted forest in the middle of the city. Rolling hilly areas, huge rocks, lots of trees. A couple hundred feet in and it's easy to forget you're even in the city, as most of the sounds get muffled out. This place is fantastic. People walking and riding and skating all over, couples holding hands, horsedrawn carriages, baseball diamonds, a little refreshment building or two. I spent a good hour or so just meandering about on my sore legs before heading to the subway and finally on my way out of the city.

Next: New England

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New Jersey / New York City, Part I

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:28:52 -0700

From written journal:
2009-05-29 // 10:15p EST // Subway?
[actually a PATH train; same diff]
Ahhhh subway. Never rode one of these. It is bumpy and fun. I wonder how fast we're going. Got on at Grove St. in Jersey City I guess. Outside the windows is funhouse horror stuff.
Saw the Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline on my way in. Is it odd that I'm suddenly mad for the first time that somebody blew up the WTC? Is that a hooker over there?

It's true! I had never ridden in a subway before I went to New York City. I got off the train out of Jersey City and walked up into New York City near Union Square, and BAM, already I was surrounded by people and concrete towers. Then, shortly after beginning to walk towards the place where I was meeting an acquaintance, I spotted a genuine behemoth NYC cockroach (I wasn't fast enough to get a picture though). Alright, so far as expected.

But that's sort of where the "gritty, tough, shady New York City" expectation-meeting ended. I entered Union Square and felt surrounded by life. A thousand cultures and shades of people were everywhere, and almost everybody seemed to be having a good time. Performers on sidewalks and in the park played all flavors of music, surrounded by people dancing and singing along and just taking it in. Skateboarders were everywhere attempting to be Tony Hawk. I even saw a pretty respectable spray of fireworks on my way in.

I met up with acquaintance Kendall and he took me to a favorite bar, and then another, and then another! Somehow I didn't expect a former frat boy to take me on this kind of tour but here I was. First was McSorley's Old Alehouse (est. 1854), where we had a few pints of their own dark ale and shared a table with a couple interesting individuals. The place was PACKED full of people and if you weren't drinking, you were kicked out. There's this anchor thing hanging over the bar that is positively furry with dust; the story is that soldiers who were leaving to go off to WWII would hang wishbones from it, with the intention of pulling them off when they returned. Well, some of those guys did not, in fact, return (fancy that), so those wishbones are still hanging there, and I guess they decided not to dust the thing after that, for whatever reason. So there's 80 or 90 years of dust on this hanging anchor thing. A local legend says that one time a guy tried to reach up and touch the thing. As acquaintance Kendall put it, "they say he didn't touch the ground until he hit the street outside". Pretty awesome!

After that we went to Kenke, a sort of sushi/sake bar nearby, where we met up with other acquaintance Cheston. Typical of a cultural food restaurant in America, the walls and outside were covered with far more Japanese stuff (symbols, posters, assorted hanging decorations) than any restaurant in Japan probably is. (Aside: sometimes I wonder if typically American food places in other countries like... let's say burger joints?... are totally covered with American flags, Hollywood references, guns, and pictures of the military invading.) We decided to try some of the food there (Kendall kept recommending the bull penis to us but he smirked every time he did, so I held off this time around). I ordered some grilled stingray fin and Cheston got some "aspara-bacon" (this is what it sounds like) and some BBQ intestines (animal unnamed). Analysis: grilled stingray fin is amazing; BBQ intestines are gross. I must eat more stingray fin in my life. Oh, and plain warm sake is... not my thing. At all. I had it once with some sort of fruity white tea and that was delicious. Anyway. They give you a little cup of sugar stuff when you leave so that you can make your own cotton candy on the way out. Sweet.

From Twitter:
2009-05-30 // 12:28a EST
I am way better with chopsticks than I remember. Maybe alcohol helps?

After leaving THERE, we went to a third bar with board games right on the tables, a pool table, and a terrifying bathroom. Long story short, the three of us get deadly serious when playing tipsy Connect 4. Afterwards, Kendall was kind enough to offer couch and air mattress to us at his place in Jersey City.

The next day Kendall walked us to this nearby Indian/Pakistani place named Medina to eat some greasy breakfast. The place had these one dollar "samosas" which are basically just some kind of fried dough filled with ground meat? These were amazing, especially for a dollar. After this I got on the PATH train again to head into the city solo.

Next: A more interesting entry about epic walking day around Manhattan

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mini-update: New England

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:16:09 -0700

Haven't had a moment to make my New York City entry (SO MUCH stuff). Currently driving around New England. Stayed in a wonderful campsite in northern Vermont the other night; Vermont is goddamn beautiful. Currently in Portland, Maine. Maine isn't exceptionally thrilling but nice. More later!

Miles traveled so far: ~2575
States hit so far: 10
Next stop: Boston, Mass

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Philly vs. Invaders / Random Writings

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:17:37 -0700

From written journal:
2009-05-24 // 2:44a EST // Niagara Falls North KOA
It's interesting how perspective changes when you have something to lose. A car accident, getting arrested, these [potentially trip-ending] things are all terrifying now instead of temporary obstacles. May the force be with me.

I forgot to write about something last entry; the cute little campsite I stayed at after my Canada border turn-away. Named Niagara Falls North KOA [link], their website features a talking Pomeranian named Pepper [please click that link it's great]. Pepper tells you about all the fun things to do at the camp and the nearby attractions. The lady gave me a discount because I got there so late, and everyone there seemed totally nice. BONUS: Pepper the Pomeranian was actually chillin' on the floor behind the counter! I wanted to pet him but he's shy. Oh well. (:

Philly!

(Sadly, Philadelphia was under attack by invaders when I was there, but I braved the dangers and explored anyways; check out the Flickr set for details and photos.)

I was headed into the city with a vague idea of heading towards Independence Park, home of the Liberty Bell. I accidentally ran into the Philadelphia Museum of Art, though! Parked real quick, walked around. It was too late to get in but there were plenty of interesting things on the outside, including a good walk. Pics start here.

Heading into the city, you can feel that there's a lot of history and culture there. Everywhere there's some sort of reference to the early formation of America or some form of semi-modern art. At the same time, it doesn't feel "old" or run-down; it's a magical combination of nice-looking and historical.

The next thing I noticed is how keen Philly is on keeping fit. There were people exercising EVERYWHERE. Joggers on every sidewalk and all over the museum area, bikers all over the place sharing the road with cars. Good on ya, Philly.

I got to Independence Park but settled on just driving around a bit. I saw a few historic buildings and even saw the Libery Bell from the road -- it's in a sort of glass building thing. But my goal isn't so much the touristy stuff as the humanity and scenery of places. So! I headed to South Street. From wikitravel:

"[South Street is] arguably the center of night life and urban activity in Philadelphia, South Street encompasses almost every kind of urban attitude you'd expect in a major city. Tattoo parlors, cheese steak joints, local designer clothing stores, restaurants, music venues, and local cafes line South Street from Penn's Landing up to about 10th street. Every night it seems as if there is a street festival going on here."

About half of my time was spent walking around on South Street, taking pictures of the locals, the places, and the invaders. It really was as rich an area as described above. My little place to eat was here too; after some research, I found the place most commonly declared "best cheese steak in Philly" was Jim's Steaks, and as I wanted a genuine Philly cheese steak, I headed there. FANTASTIC. High quality beef all grilled and thrown together in front of you and nom nom nom. Did you know that a common way to make a Philly cheese steak is with cheese whiz? Not wanting a meal quite that American, I opted for provolone on mine, no onions. So delicious. I ate in the upstairs seating area, getting a nice overhead view of a section of South St. Not wanting to get too full, I ate half of the huge beast and hoofed it down the street. Long story short, wandered around, snapped some shots, BS'd with some locals, and took off. On the way back to my temporary HQ in Reading, PA, I stopped at a park named Black Rock (I looked but could find no black obelisk like I had hoped), set up my propane grill, and ate the rest of my cheese steak with some A1. Yum.

Miles traveled so far: ~1520
Next stop: New York City
Best cheese steak: Jim's Steaks
Invaders: At large?

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Pittsburgh / West Virginia / Ohio

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:05:05 -0700

So this was the first real leg of my trip: a little loop through Pittsburgh, PA; northern West Virgina; and a big string through Ohio. Visited a few friends in Pittsburgh but didn't really stay there too long or take many pictures because I used to live there and wasn't too interested in wandering around. I did vandalize a cake though; me and friend Nadine altered a "Let's Go Pens!" cake that her roommate made with a strategic letter "i" in the last word. Great success. Also I snapped two cats.

After a startlingly brief friend visit in Weirton, West Virgina, due to time constraints, I needed a place to crash. There were no open campsites nearby that weren't going to charge me $40 to stay in a friggin' tent, so I headed over to the local Wal-Mart and set up a car tent with some fabric I had bought for the purpose. I heard that Wal-Mart welcomes RVers to stay for the night so I thought this'd be okay? Sleep was surprisingly deep and cozy. Afterward I had breakfast in a delightful picnic area nearby.

From written journal:
2009-05-21 // 10:22a EST // Weirton, WV
Woke up in my car tent in Wal-Mart parking lot. Groggy can opener purchase. Tuna fish for breakfast (MEAT!). Need a shower. Let's check out Buch's truck stop.

10:27a
Do not regret GPS purchase at all.
Side note: Absolutely beautiful day. Gonna be hot probably. Fix A/C.
Note 2: Why does A/C have a slash? Air/conditioning? Air or conditioning?

Buch's truck stop was creepy and I ran away. I scooted over to a nearby university to see if I could steal a dorm shower, stealthily disguised as a student, but the place was mega-religious and scared me so I bailed from there also. Ended up going to a nearby McDonald's to wash up a bit and use some wifi. Afterward I headed up highway 43 through southern Ohio, and let me say that this was one of the most surprisingly beautiful drives I have ever taken. I had no idea that the non-city parts of southern Ohio were so pretty. Highway 43 is deliciously curvy, and full of light rolling hills and excellent scenery; a very fun drive. I'm very glad I took a more back-roads way north ("highway" 43 is barely a highway; more of a nice rural route). I was headed towards a lunch date with online acquaintance Boorishly P. Foundry in Kent, Ohio. I had some time to kill on the way, and after a little driving around, decided to spend some afternoon in a cool old cemetery I found in Canton, took some pictures. When the time was right, I headed up into Kent, specifically to a cool little restaurant named "Mike's Place" (PURELY COINCIDENCE I ASSURE YOU). Now, I may not be an expert on what is cool, but I can confidently say that a restaurant with a freakin' X-Wing parked in front of it falls under any definition of "cool" you wish to use. This place was a really odd mix of redneck and Star Wars, and I loved every bit of it. We both got the Jamaican jerk pork loin. It was amazing and I want more right now.

I swung back through Erie afterward to steal some good sleep and a shower before heading into Canada, or so I thought. I was actually turned away at the Canadian border! This is due to certain unfortunate legal circumstances. Heh. Basically, I need to get some paperwork to get over. Unfortunately, this paperwork takes a few weeks to get, and I only have about a week before you need a passport to get back into the states, and a passport just isn't in my travel budget. SO, I guess no Canada for now.

2009-05-23 // 10:05p EST // Canada border crossing, Peace Bridge
Oh no I'm being searched! WEIRD

10:39p
...and denied entry! Canada 1, Mike 0

(Side note: Buffalo, NY, is a giant shitpile of a city.)

I headed southeast after that, and I'm currently in Reading, PA, where my friend Adam won't let me leave. From here I'd like to see NYC, maybe Philly, and then I'm a bit torn on whether I'd like to do a northern loop around New England, or to just head south from here. We shall see!

Miles traveled so far: ~1340

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Renovo, PA

Sat, 23 May 2009 12:42:45 -0700

Renovo is a little place in the middle of PA. Think: two "blocks", four bars, and nothing else but mountains and trees all over the place, scattered with houses. Went camping here a while ago with my dad. It was kind of cheater camping, as there was lodging and real food and stuff, but it was still fun. We drove around the town the two nights we were there, stopped at the bars, got several kinds of drunk, played pool. In the day I mostly took walks through the excellent surrounding woods. Most of the pictures I have are from one particularly long solo hike I took where I pretended to be an animal (with a camera) stalking through the forest. At one point I drank from and splashed around in the clearest cleanest stream I have ever seen; suddenly it is my life goal to own a little piece of secluded land with a pure stream. I would never use a real shower or faucet.

We also visited Hyner Point, which is supposedly one of the highest points in Pennsylvania. The view from there is spectacular and vertigo-inducing. It's also a popular hang-gliding spot but unfortunately I don't have the gear/knowledge/experience to do that. It was too windy for anybody to do it that day too, so I couldn't even get any pictures of some flying people.

On the way there (and back) I passed through a few little towns and the Kinzua area, home of the Kinzua dam. That's where some of my favorite mountain shots come in. I also stopped and bottled my own spring water; I just can't state enough times how awesome pure, real water is.

My little place to eat on this trip was an ice cream stand named Dairy Delite. The cookie dough "tornado" was delicious and you should go buy one.

Miles traveled so far: ~460

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Erie, PA

Fri, 22 May 2009 17:11:48 -0700

My technical starting point and location of current residence. Not much here!

Erie is a failed former industrial town on an endless downward spiral of rust and decay. On the plus side, we have a nice peninsula named Presque Isle. This is the big tourist destination (other than the casino) on which the city places all its hopes for its survival.

Course, I'm being a bit harsh here; while we have not much good here, we don't have much bad either. You're safe in most of Erie and the roads aren't terribly laid out (just terribly maintained). What else... well, it's close to a few cities that actually matter: Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland are all fairly nearby. Oh, and the cops are all friendly.

View Larger Map

Erie county is actually a pretty nice area though. Lots of forests and farms, middle-of-nowhere places where you can relax. At this point I'm supposed to say what I did while I visited, but that's a little rough when you've lived in the place for a while. Things I have done in Erie and surrounding suburbs: grown up, moved out, moved back, worked, gone camping, broken into a state park to watch a meteor shower, seen a few concerts, been arrested, wrecked cars, fallen in love. Today I went to Presque Isle to take some pictures of the nicer side of Erie (note: I've read/heard that only the Pacific coast has better American sunsets).

UPDATE: Went to the casino before I left to try to get some extra cash. Result: SUCCESS. I walked away with one more dollar than I previously had. Also went for a little walk around the city to gather pictures.

Wikipedian tidbits:
• Erie is the Pennsylvania's fourth largest city.
• To wrest control of Lake Erie from the British during the War of 1812, President James Madison ordered the construction of a naval fleet in Erie.
• Erie is known as the Flagship City because of the presence of Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship Niagara.
• Presque Isle State Park has 7 miles (11 km) of public beaches, wetlands, and fishing sites, drawing over four million visitors a year.
• As of 2007, Erie is 13th on the list of snowiest places in the United States, averaging 88 inches (220 cm).
• Famous people from Erie: Bob Sanders (NFL), Billy Blanks (Taebo), Tom Ridge (Homeland Insecurity), Chris Vrenna (NIN)

Oh! Almost forgot, Erie is the home of Smith's hot dogs, which are the best and only good hot dogs in the world.

Miles traveled so far: ~31
Current heading: Pittsburgh, West Virgina, Ohio, Buffalo, Toronto

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P.S. -- I didn't want this thing to sound like an encyclopedia but it's hard to chronicle just a day in your home town. I can change just give me a chance.

wan � der � ing

Thu, 14 May 2009 20:04:48 -0700

�adjective
1. moving from place to place without a fixed plan; roaming; rambling: wandering tourists.
2. having no permanent residence; nomadic: a wandering tribe of Indians.
3. meandering; winding: a wandering river; a wandering path.

�noun
4. an aimless roving about; leisurely traveling from place to place: a period of delightful wandering through Italy.
5. Usually, wanderings.
a. aimless travels; meanderings: Her wanderings took her all over the world.
b. disordered thoughts or utterances: mental wanderings; the wanderings of delirium.

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mike
1. guy from Girard, PA, USA
2. wanderer
3. your host for the evening
4. likes cooking

Well, about a year ago I decided I wanted to take a big aimless trip around the country. Got my car & camping gear ready and here I be. I felt like recording my adventures on the interwebs so you can wander with me (and maybe tell me where to go). I'll be wandering until my money runs out.

The car: a 1993 Geo Prizm named Black Betty. It is small and gets about a million highway miles to the gallon. Pictured below in sunny Erie, PA.

The camera: it's an Olympus 1030 SW. Some people are into knowing that type of stuff. It's basically invincible versus cold and water and impact and stuff. I GOT THE GREEN ONE.

ROAD TRIP

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